Bushfires

Bushfires have always been a summer threat during dry times on the south coast. However, with the impact of climate change, prolonged drought conditions created the volatile and catastrophic conditions that overwhelmed the region during the end of 2019 and start of 2020. Lives lost and thousands of homes, dwellings and businesses destroyed have decimated many aspects of the south coast including our emotional well being, economy, social and physical infrastructure and environment. It is a summer no one wants to repeat.

SHASA promotes actions that respond positively to future bushfire threats. These include:

  • Develop a fire plan that reflects the reality of the situation we now confront
  • Build infrastructure ‘hardened’ to meet future fire events
  • Resource and educate the community to be proactive and engaged around responding to fire threats
  • Create appropriate Evacuation Centres and Heatwave and Bushfire Havens for the more vulnerable and information resources that can be utilised during fire events
  • Recognise that climate change is an underlying driver of current and future fire events. SHASA believes the Eurobodalla Shire Council needs to prepare urgently for future fires and other climate events such as drought and floods. Our lack of preparation during the 2019/2020 bushfires showed how vulnerable we are.

SHASA Achievements

  • Upgraded the Moruya Red Door Hall, Moruya Pre School Kindergarten, CWA Narooma, CWA Moruya, and Uniting Church Catalina to operate as heatwave and bushfire haven. Read more here.
  • Prepared submissions to the NSW and Federal bushfire inquiries in 2020.
  • For those of us who are rebuilding following the fires, SHASA has developed a simple list of things to consider to make your house more comfortable and cheaper to run. We hope you find it useful. Read more here.

Other Resources

Energy resilience during extreme weather events (ESKIES project)

The ESKIES project final report can be downloaded here. Drawing on interviews, workshops and case studies across the duration of the project, the report describes what we have heard from residents and professionals about their experiences of the Black Summer bushfires and other extreme weather events, particularly:

·      how households and communities were impacted by power outages

·      how they used Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and other resources available to them to manage during these outages, and

·      how DER and other resources could be used to achieve greater energy resilience in future.

You can also find a summary of our findings on the ESKIES website enegy-resilience.com.au, along with a Guide to back-up power options for resilient households.

Community Protection for Infant and Young Children in Bushfire Emergencies Project

Australia lacks proper planning for young children in emergencies and this means families faced with a disaster may struggle to get the support they need. A new study is hoping to change that. But we need your help! 

Were you a parent or caregiver of a child 0 to 4 years of age who was impacted by the 2019/20 bushfires or an emergency responder (including as a community member, health provider, family member or friend) who supported families during or after the bushfires? If so, please consider being a part of this study

We want to gather information about what families with young children experienced during the Bushfires of 2019-20, so we can improve planning. 

Please complete this survey https://bit.ly/3oOqhTI and help us increase community resilience to bushfires by ensuring the needs of infants and young children are met. The survey takes about 20-40 minutes to complete, and you can return to it at any time on the same device. 

Green Rebuild Toolkit – RENEW AUSTRALIA

The Green Build Toolkit offers information for fire-affected communities to rebuild homes for climate and fire resilience. 

The toolkit presents a set of online resources, articles, and information to assist fire-affected communities to plan for, retrofit and rebuild their homes to suit our changing climate. As publishers of both Renew and Sanctuary magazine, Renew draws on over forty years of experience in this sector as well as an extensive network of technical experts, architects and designers.

For more information, contact greenrebuildtoolkit@renew.org.au

Sign up and join with more than 700 supporters from across the Eurobodalla Shire and beyond to help co-create an inspiring and resilient future for the region.

Sign up and join with more than 500 supporters from across the Eurobodalla Shire and beyond to help co-create an inspiring and resilient future for the region.

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